Linnaeus built his classification based on the principle. Evolution of the living world on Earth. Development of biology in the pre-Darwinian period. Formation of taxonomy. Why was Carl Linnaeus's system artificial?
The creator of a unified system of classification of flora and fauna, which brought him worldwide fame during his lifetime. From 1727 to 1735 he studied natural history and medicine at universities in Sweden and Holland. In 1738 Linnaeus opened a medical practice in Stockholm. Having cured several ladies-in-waiting's coughs with a decoction of fresh yarrow leaves, he soon became a court physician and one of the most fashionable doctors in the capital. It is known that in his medical work, Linnaeus actively used strawberries, both to treat gout and to cleanse the blood, improve complexion, and reduce weight.
In 1739, Linnaeus, having headed the naval hospital, obtained permission to autopsy the corpses of the dead to determine the cause of death. In October 1741, Linnaeus took up the post of professor of medicine at Uppsala University and moved to the professor's house, located in the university botanical garden(now the Linnaeus Garden).
Here, at Uppsala University, Linnaeus worked until the end of his life. Uppsala University is the oldest public university in Sweden (in the city of Uppsala) and throughout Scandinavia, existing since 1477. The position of professor allowed him to concentrate on writing books and dissertations on natural science.
Linnaeus's fame as a scientist, as well as as an excellent lecturer who knew how to awaken in listeners interest in knowledge of nature, especially plants, attracted a large number of young naturalists from Sweden and other countries to Uppsala.
In 1750, Carl Linnaeus was appointed rector of Uppsala University. On January 10, 1778, Linnaeus died at his home in Uppsala, and as one of the prominent citizens of Uppsala, he was buried in Uppsala Cathedral (the main cathedral of the Church of Sweden).
Introduction
Biology(from Greek bios– life + logos- word, doctrine) is a science that studies life as a phenomenon that occupies a special place in the universe. Together with other sciences that study nature (physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, etc.), it is classified as a natural science. Usually, the humanities (which study the laws of existence and development of man and human society) are also classified as a separate group; these include sociology, psychology, anthropology, ethnography, etc.
The phenomenon of man (as a biosocial being) is of interest to both the natural sciences and the humanities. But biology plays a special role, being a connecting link between them. This conclusion is based on modern ideas about the development of nature, which led to the emergence of life. In the process of evolution of living organisms, a person arose with qualitatively new properties - reason, speech, ability to creative activity, social lifestyle, etc.
The existence and development of inanimate nature is subject to physical and chemical laws. With the advent of living organisms, biological processes, having a fundamentally different character and subject to different laws – biological. However, it is important to note that, along with this, the physicochemical processes that underlie the emerging (qualitatively different and unique) biological phenomena are also preserved.
The specific qualities and social properties of a person do not exclude his natural affiliation. In the human body (as in all living beings) both physicochemical and biological processes take place. However, an individual can fully develop only in society, in communication with other people. This is the only way to master speech and acquire knowledge, skills and abilities. The fundamental difference here is that the existence and development of humanity is based on its ability to learn, to accumulate knowledge from generation to generation, and to engage in productive activity.
Truly grandiose achievements of science, including biology, in the 20th century. significantly expanded and deepened our understanding of both the unity of nature and man, and their complex relationships. For example, environmental data have shown that living organisms, including humans, are not only dependent on nature, but themselves act as a powerful factor influencing it and even the cosmos. This applies, in particular, to the Earth’s atmosphere, the formation of vast geological strata, the formation of island systems, etc. Humanity currently has the strongest impact on the living and inanimate nature of the planet.
Biology today is a complex of sciences that study a variety of living beings, their structure and functioning, distribution, origin and development, as well as natural communities of organisms, their connections with each other, with inanimate nature and humans.
In addition to its general educational significance, biology plays a huge role for humans, having long served as the theoretical basis of medicine, veterinary medicine, agronomy, and animal husbandry. Now there are industries that are based on biotechnology, i.e., they use living organisms in the production process. We can mention the food, pharmaceutical, chemical industries, etc.
Various biological sciences are also of great importance in connection with the problem of the relationship between man and nature. Only on a scientific basis is it possible to solve such problems as the rational use of natural resources, a gentle attitude towards the world around us, and the competent organization of environmental protection activities.
“General Biology” is a subject that represents the most important stage in the biological education of secondary school students. It relies on the knowledge, skills and abilities that have already been acquired in the study of botany, zoology, and human biology.
Starting from the 6th grade, you became acquainted with different groups of living organisms: viruses, bacteria, fungi, plants, animals. You learned about their structure and functioning, variety of forms, distribution, etc. In the 8th grade, the subject of biology classes was man and his specificity as a biosocial being.
General biology, unlike other specialized disciplines, considers, as the name itself suggests, general(for all living organisms) the peculiar properties and qualities of everything alive, general patterns of organization, life activity, development, inherent in all forms life.
Chapter 1. The Essence of Life
§ 1. Definition of life and fundamental properties of living things
One of the tasks facing any science is the need to create definitions, i.e. e. brief statements, giving, however, complete idea about the essence of an object or phenomenon. In biology, there are dozens of options for defining life, but none of them satisfies the two requirements mentioned above at once. Either the definition takes up 2-3 pages of the book, or some things are left out of it. important characteristics alive.
Life in its specific manifestations on Earth is represented by diverse forms of organisms. According to modern biological knowledge, it is possible to identify a set of properties that should be recognized as common to all living beings and which distinguish them from bodies of inanimate nature. Thus, to the concept life we will arrive by comprehending the specific properties of living organisms.
Specificity of the chemical composition. The difference between living and nonliving things is clearly manifested already at the level of their chemical composition. Very often you can find the phrase “organic nature” as a synonym for “living nature”. And this is absolutely fair. All organic substances are created in living organisms during their life processes. As experts say, they biogenic(i.e. created by living beings). Moreover, it is organic substances that determine the possibility of the existence of living organisms themselves. For example, nucleic acids contain hereditary (genetic) information; proteins determine the structure, provide movement, and regulate all life processes; sugars (carbohydrates) perform energy functions, etc. There is not a single living creature known on Earth that is not a collection of proteins and nucleic acids.
Organic substances have more complex molecules than inorganic ones and are characterized by infinite diversity, which, as we will see later, largely determines the diversity of living organisms.
Structural organization of living beings. Even in elementary school, in botany and zoology lessons, you were told that scientists T. Schwann and M. Schleiden (1839) formulated the cellular theory of the structure of all plants and animals. The cell has since been recognized structural and functional unit any living beings. This means that their bodies are built from cells (there are also single-celled ones) and the vital functions of the organism are determined by the processes occurring inside the cells themselves. Remember also that the cells of all plants and animals are similar in structure (have membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, organelles).
But already at this level it manifests itself structural complexity living organizations. There are many different components (organelles) in a cell. Such heterogeneity of its internal composition makes it possible to simultaneously carry out hundreds and thousands of chemical reactions in such a small space.
The same is true for multicellular organisms. From many cells, various tissues, organs, and organ systems (performing different functions) are formed, which together make up a complex and heterogeneous integral system - a living organism.
Metabolism in living organisms. All living organisms are characterized by the exchange of substances and energy with the environment.
F. Engels at the end of the 19th century. singled out this property of living things, deeply appreciating its significance. Offering his definition of life, he wrote:
Life is a way of existence of protein bodies, the essential point of which is the constant exchange of substances with the external nature surrounding them, and with the cessation of this metabolism, life also ceases, which leads to the decomposition of the protein.
And in inorganic bodies metabolism can occur... But the difference is that in the case of inorganic bodies, metabolism destroys them, but in the case of organic bodies it is a necessary condition for their existence.
In this process, a living organism receives the substances it needs as material for growth, restoration of destroyed (“spent”) components and as a source of energy to ensure life. The resulting substances that are harmful or unnecessary for the body (carbon dioxide, urea, water, etc.) are released into the external environment.
Self-reproduction (reproduction) of organisms. Reproduction– reproduction of one’s own kind – the most important condition for the continuation of life. An individual organism is mortal, its life span is limited, and reproduction ensures the continuity of the existence of species, more than compensating for the natural death of individuals.
Heredity and variability.
Heredity– the ability of organisms to transmit from generation to generation the entire set of characteristics that ensure the adaptability of organisms to their environment.
It ensures the similarity of organisms of different generations. It is no coincidence that the word synonymous with reproduction is self-reproduction. Individuals of one generation give rise to individuals of a new generation, similar to themselves. Today the mechanism of heredity is well known. Hereditary information (i.e. information about the characteristics, properties and qualities of organisms) is encrypted in nucleic acids and is passed on from generation to generation during the process of reproduction of organisms.
It is obvious that with “hard” heredity (i.e., absolute repetition of parental characteristics) against the background of changing environmental conditions, the survival of organisms would be impossible. Organisms could not develop new habitats. Finally, the evolutionary process—the formation of new species—would also be excluded. However, living organisms also have variability,which is understood as their ability to acquire new characteristics and lose old ones. The result is a diversity of individuals belonging to the same species. Variability can occur both in individuals during their individual development, and in a group of organisms over a number of generations during reproduction.
Individual (ontogenesis) and historical (evolutionary; phylogeny) development of organisms. Any organism during its life (from the moment of its inception to natural death) undergoes natural changes, which are called individual development. There is an increase in body size and weight - growth, the formation of new structures (sometimes accompanied by the destruction of previously existing ones - for example, the loss of a tadpole's tail and the formation of paired limbs), reproduction and, finally, the end of existence.
The evolution of organisms is an irreversible process of historical development of living things, during which a successive change of species is observed as a result of the disappearance of previously existing ones and the emergence of new ones. Evolution is progressive in nature, since the organization (structure, functioning) of living beings has passed through a number of stages - precellular life forms, unicellular organisms, increasingly complex multicellular ones, and so on up to humans. Consistent complication of organization leads to an increase in the viability of organisms and their adaptive capabilities.
Irritability and movement. An inherent property of living beings is irritability(the ability to perceive external or internal stimuli (influences) and respond adequately to them). It manifests itself in changes in metabolism (for example, when daylight hours shorten and the ambient temperature drops in autumn in plants and animals), in the form of motor reactions (see below), and highly organized animals (including humans) are characterized by changes in behavior.
A characteristic reaction to irritation in almost all living beings is movement,i.e. spatial movement the whole organism or individual parts of their body. This is characteristic of both unicellular (bacteria, amoebas, ciliates, algae) and multicellular (almost all animals) organisms. Some multicellular cells also have mobility (for example, phagocytes in the blood of animals and humans). Multicellular plants, compared to animals, are characterized by low mobility, however, they also have special forms of manifestation of motor reactions. They have two types of active movements: height And contractile. The first, slower ones include, for example, the extension of the stems of houseplants growing in the window towards the light (due to their one-sided lighting). Contractile movements are observed in insectivorous plants (for example, the rapid folding of leaves of a sundew when catching insects landing on it).
The phenomenon of irritability underlies the reactions of organisms, due to which they are maintained homeostasis.
Homeostasis– this is the body’s ability to resist changes and maintain a relative constancy of the internal environment (maintaining a certain body temperature, blood pressure, salt composition, acidity, etc.).
Thanks to irritability, organisms have the ability to adaptation.
Under adaptation refers to the process of adaptation of the body to certain environmental conditions.
Concluding the section devoted to determining the fundamental properties of living organisms, we can draw the following conclusion.
The difference between living organisms and inanimate objects is not the presence of some “elusive”, supernatural properties (all laws of physics and chemistry are true for living things), but the high structural and functional complexity of living systems. This feature includes all the properties of living organisms discussed above and makes the state of life a qualitatively new property of matter.
Remember:
What does taxonomy study?
Answer. Systematics studies the distribution of living organisms into certain groups (taxa) according to the commonality of their structure with maximum preservation of evolutionary connections.
Why was Carl Linnaeus' system artificial?
Answer. Linnaeus was the first to create a convenient, accurate and strict plant system, albeit on an artificial basis. It is artificial because when determining the similarity of plants and classifying them, he did not take into account all the features of similarity and difference, not the totality of all morphological characteristics of a plant - a totality that alone can determine the true relationship of two forms, but built his entire system solely on the basis of one only an organ - a flower.
Questions after § 27
What is the difference between a natural system and an artificial one?
Answer. There are two types of classification - artificial and natural. In artificial classification, one or more easily distinguishable features are taken as a basis. It is created and used to solve practical problems, when the main thing is ease of use and simplicity. Linnaeus's classification is also artificial because it did not take into account important natural relationships
Natural classification is an attempt to use the natural relationships between organisms. In this case, more data is taken into account than in artificial classification, and not only external, but also internal characteristics are taken into account. Similarities in embryogenesis, morphology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, cellular structure and behavior are taken into account.
What is the system of living organisms proposed by K. Linnaeus? Why?
Answer. The system proposed by K. Linnaeus was artificial. Linnaeus based it not on the relationship of plants, but on several external, easily distinguishable characteristics. He based the classification of plants only on the structure of the generative organs. When classified according to 1-2 arbitrarily chosen characteristics, systematically distant plants sometimes ended up in the same class, and related ones - in different ones. For example, when counting the number of stamens in carrots and flax, Linnaeus placed them in the same group on the basis that they each had five stamens per flower. In fact, these plants belong to different genera and families: carrots are from the Apiaceae family, flax is from the flax family. The artificiality of the classification “by stamens” is in many cases so obvious that it cannot be ignored. Linnaeus’s family of “eight-stamens” included buckwheat, maple and raven’s eye.
In the 5th grade (5 stamens) there were carrots, flax, quinoa, bellflower, forget-me-not, currant, viburnum. In the 21st class, next to duckweed there were sedge, birch, oak, nettle and even spruce and pine. Lingonberries, bearberry, which is similar to it, and blueberries are cousins, but they fall into different classes, since the number of stamens is different.
But with all its shortcomings, the Linnaean plant system made it easy to understand the huge number of species already known to science.
Based on the similarity and shape of the beak, the chicken and the ostrich fell into the same order, while chickens belong to the keel-breasted species, and ostriches belong to the ratite species (and in its type “worms” 11 modern types are collected). His zoological system was built on the principle of “degradation” - from complex to simple.
K. Linnaeus, recognizing the artificiality of his system, wrote that “the artificial system will exist before the creation of the natural one.”
What is binary nomenclature and what is its significance for taxonomy?
Answer. Binary nomenclature is the designation of species of animals, plants and microorganisms in two Latin words: the first is the name of the genus, the second is the specific epithet (for example, Lepus europaeus - brown hare, Centaurea cyanus - blue cornflower). When a species is described for the first time, the author's surname is also given in Latin. Proposed by K. Baugin (1620), formed the basis of taxonomy by K. Linnaeus (1753).
The name of the genus is always written with a capital letter, the name of the species is always written with a small letter (even if it comes from a proper name).
Explain the principle of the hierarchy of taxa using specific examples.
Answer. At the first stage of classification, experts divide organisms into separate groups, which are characterized by a certain set of characteristics, and then arrange them in the correct sequence. Each of these groups in taxonomy is called a taxon. A taxon is the main object of systematics research, representing a group of zoological objects that actually exist in nature, which are quite isolated. Examples of taxa include such groups as “vertebrates”, “mammals”, “artiodactyls”, “red deer” and others.
In the classification of Carl Linnaeus, taxa were arranged in the following hierarchical structure:
Kingdom - animals
Class - mammals
Order - primates
Rod - person
View - Homo sapiens
One of the principles of systematics is the principle of hierarchy, or subordination. It is implemented as follows: closely related species are united into genera, genera are united into families, families into orders, orders into classes, classes into types, and types into a kingdom. The higher the rank of a taxonomic category, the fewer taxa at that level. For example, if there is only one kingdom, then there are already more than 20 types. The principle of hierarchy allows one to very accurately determine the position of a zoological object in the system of living organisms. An example is the systematic position of the white hare:
Animal Kingdom
Type Chordata
Class Mammals
Order Lagomorpha
Family Zaitsevye
Genus Hares
Mountain hare species
In addition to the main taxonomic categories, additional taxonomic categories are used in zoological systematics, which are formed by adding the corresponding prefixes to the main taxonomic categories (super-, sub-, infra- and others).
The systematic position of the mountain hare using additional taxonomic categories will be as follows:
Animal Kingdom
Subkingdom True multicellular organisms
Type Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrates
Superclass Quadrupeds
Class Mammals
Subclass Viviparous
Infraclass Placental
Order Lagomorpha
Family Zaitsevye
Genus Hares
Mountain hare species
Knowing the position of an animal in the system, one can characterize its external and internal structure and biological features. Thus, from the above systematic position of the white hare, one can obtain the following information about this species: it has a four-chambered heart, a diaphragm and fur (characters of the class Mammals); in the upper jaw there are two pairs of incisors, there are no sweat glands in the skin of the body (characters of the order Lagomorpha), the ears are long, the hind limbs are longer than the front ones (characters of the family Lagomorpha), etc. This is an example of one of the main functions of classification - prognostic (forecast, prediction function). In addition, the classification performs a heuristic (cognitive) function - it provides material for reconstructing the evolutionary paths of animals and an explanatory one - it demonstrates the results of studying animal taxa. To unify the work of taxonomists, there are rules that regulate the process of describing new animal taxa and assigning scientific names to them.
Question 1. What is taxonomy?
Systematics (from Greek - ordered, relating to a system) - bringing into a system, as well as a systemic classification of someone or something.
Biological systematics is a section of general biology designed to create a single harmonious system of the animal world based on the identification of a system of biological taxa and corresponding names, arranged according to certain rules (nomenclature). The terms "systematics" and "taxonomy" are often used interchangeably.
Question 2. On what principle was K. Linnaeus’ classification of organisms based?
K. Linnaeus based his classification on the principle of hierarchy (i.e., subordination) of taxa (from the Greek taxis - arrangement in order) - systematic units of one rank or another. In Linnaeus' system, the largest taxon was a class, the smallest was a species (variety).
Question 3. What is the natural system of nature?
The natural system of nature is nature itself, that is, living organisms. They, in turn, being components of nature, can be classified on the basis of certain principles that lay the foundation of the system. That is, the natural system of nature is an attempt by a curious person to sort the world in which we live “into pieces” and attribute each of its manifestations to components that are successively subordinate to each other. Theoretically, it is assumed that the system, on the one hand, underlies natural phenomena, on the other hand, is only a stage on the path of scientific research.
Question 4. What kingdoms, types, classes, families, genera and species of living organisms do you know?
There are a huge number of taxa of living organisms. For example, the systematic position of the domestic dog can be described as follows. The domestic dog is part of the genus Wolf of the Wolf family of the order Carnivores of the class Mammals of the subtype Vertebrates of the Chordata type. Along with the domestic dog, the Wolf genus includes wolves, jackals, coyotes, and dingoes.
Question 5. In what other areas of knowledge or social structures can the principle of hierarchy be found? Give an example.
Hierarchy is a common type of system object structure. It is especially characteristic of control systems in the world of biological and socio-economic phenomena. An example would be the ranks of military personnel.
Question 6. Why, with the development of science, new additional taxa were introduced in taxonomy? Give examples of such taxa and the organisms included in them.
Domains - relative new way classifications. The three-domain system was invented in 1990, but has not yet been fully accepted. Most biologists accept this domain system, but a significant number continue to use the five-kingdom division. One of the main features of the three-domain method is the separation of archaea (Archaea) and bacteria (Bacteria), which were previously combined into the kingdom of bacteria. There is also a small part of scientists who add archaea in the form of a sixth kingdom, but do not recognize the domains.
Question 7. Using additional sources of information, prepare a message or presentation about the life and work of Carl Linnaeus.
Carl Linnaeus was born on May 23, 1707 in the village of Roshult in Sweden in the family of a priest. Two years later he and his family moved to Stenbrohult. Interest in plants in the biography of Carl Linnaeus appeared already in childhood. He received his primary education at a school in the city of Växjö, and after graduating from school he entered a gymnasium. Linnaeus's parents wanted the boy to continue the family business and become a pastor. But Karl was of little interest in theology. He devoted a lot of time to studying plants.
Thanks to the insistence of school teacher Johan Rothman, Karl's parents allowed him to study medical sciences. Then the university stage began. Karl began studying at the University of Lund. And in order to become more familiar with medicine, a year later he moved to Uppsald University. In addition, he continued to educate himself. Together with a student at the same university, Peter Artedi, Linnaeus began revising and criticizing the principles of natural science.
In 1729, an acquaintance took place with W. Celsius, who played important role in the development of Linnaeus as a botanist. Then Karl moved to the house of Professor Celsius and began to get acquainted with his huge library. Linnaeus's basic ideas on the classification of plants were outlined in his first work, “Introduction to the Sexual Life of Plants.” A year later, Linnaeus had already begun teaching and lecturing at the botanical garden of Uppsald University.
He spent the period from May to October 1732 in Lapland. After fruitful work during the trip, his book “A Brief Flora of Lapland” was published. It was in this work that the reproductive system in flora. The following year, Linnaeus became interested in mineralogy, even publishing a textbook. Then in 1734, in order to study plants, he went to the province of Dalarna.
He received his doctorate in medicine in June 1735 from the University of Harderwijk. Linnaeus's next work, The System of Nature, marked new stage in Linnaeus's career and life in general. Thanks to new connections and friends, he received the position of caretaker of one of the largest botanical gardens in Holland, which collected plants from all over the world. So Karl continued to classify plants. And after the death of his friend Peter, Artedi published his work and later used his ideas for classifying fish. While living in Holland, Linnaeus's works were published: “Fundamenta Botanica”, “Musa Cliffordiana”, “Hortus Cliffordianus”, “Critica botanica”, “Genera plantarum” and others.
The scientist returned to his homeland in 1773. There in Stockholm he began practicing medicine, using his knowledge of plants to treat people. He also taught, was chairman of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and a professor at Uppsala University (he retained the position until his death).
Then Carly Linnaeus, in his biography, went on an expedition to the islands of the Baltic Sea and visited western and southern Sweden. And in 1750 he became rector of the university where he had previously taught. In 1761 he received the status of a nobleman. And on January 10, 1778, Linnaeus died.
It had the same significance for biology as the periodic table a little later did for chemistry. Already in the 19th century, biology became a full-fledged science with promising horizons and a wide range of applications. Moreover, it was impossible to get lost in this wide field. Any newly found living organism found its “shelf”.
The “shelves” in Linnaeus’ system turned out to be classification groups called taxa. The word "taxon" comes from the ancient Greek word "taxis" ("structure, organization"), and through this word "taxon" is associated with the term "tactics" (originally meaning methods of organizing troops). And through the Latin language, the word “tax” (“payment”) was formed from “taxis”. So from the point of view of etymology, “taxon” is a distant relative of the taxi, a car that transports people and goods for a fee.
In Linnaeus' classification, taxa are arranged according to a hierarchical principle, that is, they form levels. All taxa of the same level do not overlap. This means that they are constructed in such a way that any living organism can be classified into one, and only one, taxon. Predators are a separate taxon, and rodents are a separate one.
In this case, there should not be a single living organism that would simultaneously belong to two taxa. For example, he would be both a predator and a rodent. And, besides, there is not a single living organism that is not included in some taxon of the lowest level.
On the other hand, higher-level taxa completely include one or more lower-level taxa. The higher-level taxon “mammals” fully includes both the taxon “rodents” and the taxon “predators”, and a dozen other taxa. All rodents are mammals and all carnivores are mammals. Without exception.
In his classification, Linnaeus identified five levels of hierarchy, which he called (if followed from top to bottom) classes, detachments, families, childbirth And species. Later, scientists added several more higher levels of hierarchy, as well as intermediate levels, to Linnaeus’ classification, but the principle of systematization of biological objects did not change.
At the lowest level of the hierarchy of living organisms is the species. A species is a group of animals, plants or microorganisms, uniting individuals that have a common appearance, structure, physiology and biochemistry, as well as behavior. All living organisms that make up a species interbreed and produce fertile offspring, inhabit a certain territory (area) and similarly change under the influence of the external environment. As we see, in order to classify a living organism as a particular species, one should consider a set of a wide variety of characteristics. Therefore, describing a species is a serious and difficult task, which not every scientist can handle, but only the erudite and pedantic. And the discovery of a new species in biology is a great scientific achievement.
Several similar species are combined into a genus. In this case, one genus may include many species, a small number of species, or even one species. In the same way, several species form families, several families form orders, and several orders form a class.
Here, for example, is what a person’s place in the biological hierarchy looks like. The biological species Homo sapiens belongs to the genus Homo from the family Hominidae in the order Primates of the class Mammalia.
The genus Homo currently contains only one species, Homo sapiens, but formerly included at least one other species of Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis, or Neanderthal.
Let's go up one more level. In addition to the genus Homo, the family of hominids also includes other genera, namely, the genera of great apes: orangutans (Pongo), gorillas (Gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan).
The hominid family is part of the order of primates, which also includes more than a dozen families of various monkeys, for example, monkeys (Cercopithecidae).
And all this diversity is included in the class of mammals, which includes, in addition to primates, a large number of other orders, for example, predators (Carnivora), rodents (Rodentia), cetaceans (Cetacea) and others. In general, it is clear that the higher the level of hierarchy in a classification system, the more animals, plants or microorganisms the taxa at that level include. At the lowest level there are more taxa, but they are not so numerous.
Biological taxonomy must be universal. That is, all biologists in the world should understand it the same way. Therefore, for names in biology, not living languages are used, but an artificial language, created, moreover, on the basis of a dead, Latin, language. This artificial language called biological Latin. Biological Latin differs significantly from classical Latin. It uses the Latin alphabet with the addition of those letters that are in Ancient Rome did not know, namely, “j”, “k” and “w”. In addition, biological Latin uses Latin rules of grammar, for example, for the formation plural and adjectives. Latin words and Latinized words of other languages, primarily ancient Greek, can be used as roots for names.
The scientific name of any species is always double (binary). This means that it consists of two words: firstly, the name of the genus to which the species belongs, and secondly, the name of the species. The first word is a noun, the second is an adjective. The first word is written with a capital letter, and the second - with a lowercase letter. Examples of species names: Durum wheat (Triticum durum), Soft wheat (Triticum aestivum), Spelled (Triticum dicoccum) are all different types of wheat. Triticum (Wheat) is the generic name. In turn, the genus Triticum is part of the Poaceae family.
Or another example: the flower Linnaea borealis, named after Carl Linnaeus himself - northern linnaea.
Thanks to Linnaeus' system, each species of animal or plant had its place in the grandiose mosaic of the living world. AND .
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